Homemade bread: method and recipe with beer yeast or sourdough starter

Ahhhh the bread! The “dad” of all the bakery products, be it salty or bland – I do prefer it salty, though – can be eaten alone and enhanced by creating a beautiful big sandwich made of salami or other ingredients, as well as accompanying most of our cuisine.
After asking Alessandro Lo Stocco what are the common mistakes made during the preparation of a homemade pizza, and why avoid them, this time we talk about the method and recipe for making an excellent homemade bread, using the beer yeast or the “levain” (liquid sourdough), whose preparation at home we talked about in a special article.
The procedure is in two phases and involves the use of poolish, otherwise called liquid biga (indirect method) in which the preferment is obtained by mixing water, flour and yeast in such proportions that it is very “liquid”.
Let’s start with the ingredients, suggesting two types of preferment depending on the use of beer yeast or levain.

PREFERMENT WITH BEER YEAST

• 600g flour medium strong (with W from 230-260 and more, type 0 or 00)
• 600ml water
• 1g fresh beer yeast
  Let it rest 15 hours to a temperature of 16-20°.

PREFERMENT WITH LEVAIN

• 500g of strong flour (W from 280 and more, type 0 or 00)
• 500ml of water
• 200g of levain

Let it rest 12-14 hours to a temperature of 16-20° ((PLEASE NOTE, the fermentation times of the final dough may vary according to the fermentation force of your sourdough starter)

FINAL DOUGH

• All the poolish obtained with the preferment
• 400g of medium flour (W from 230-260, type 0 or 00)
• 150ml of water
• 25g of salt
• 20g of malt (alternatively honey or sugar)
• 15g of fresh beer yeast, nothing in case you use a sourdough.

THE RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE

We prepare the poolish preferment by taking a narrow and tall container (it will at least double up its volume).
Dissolve 1 gram of beer yeast (or 200g of sourdough) in 600ml of fresh water (500ml for the sourdough process), then pour everything in 600g of flour (500g again for the sourdough process); with a whisk mix the ingredients well until creamy. Cover with cling film, create small holes and let it ferment at 16-20 ° for about 15 hours (12-14 hours for the process with the sourdough).

The next day, dissolve 20g of malt (alternatively honey or sugar) in 100ml of water together with 15g of yeast (or nothing, in the case of the sourdough) and pour everything into the fermented poolish. Add 400g of flour and start kneading. As soon as the dough starts to take consistency, dissolve 25g of salt in 50ml of water and pour everything into the dough, continuing to knead until you have a smooth dough. Leave to rest in an oiled container for 60-90 minutes. Cut out and form the loaves, leaving to rise for another 60-90 minutes. Bake at 230° (static mode) for 25-30 minutes, with initial humidity: I help myself with a saucepan full of water at the base of the oven. Keep in mind that the rising and cooking times may vary according to the temperatures and the type of oven, so take a look at these phases to obtain the optimal result.

Have a good bread tasting, share your creations with us below or on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter!